an opinionated sports blog

December 4, 2018

We’re here, again, to discuss what Jose Mourinho has done/said this week.

If you think that this is a weekly feature, it isn’t, but it probably should be.

But with things between the United manager and star midfielder Paul Pogba seemingly worse than ever, it’s an impossible story to ignore.

After United’s 2-2 draw with Southampton, Mourinho reportedly called the Frenchman “a virus” in the locker room.

“You don’t play. You don’t respect players and supporters. And you kill the mentality of the good honest people around you,” Mourinho reportedly said, according to the Daily Record.

Mourinho also threw some shade at Pogba in his post-game presser, saying the midfield had too many giveaways, before praising fellow midfielders Nemanja Vidic and Scott McTominay for their defence.

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This sort of statement has to lead you to believe that a breakup is coming, sooner rather than later.

Pogba had already been benched for the midweek Champions League win over Young Boys — one that required an injury time winner — and this isn’t the first dust-up between the Special One and the midfielder. Earlier this season, Mourinho was caught on video telling Pogba to leave practice and also told the team’s record signing that he will never wear the captain’s armband again.

The thing is, there are still seven games squeezed into this month before the January transfer window opens, which means Mourinho and Pogba are going to have to co-exist.

If Pogba were to hit the market, there would be no shortage of high-profile suitors and there’s no question United would make a ton of money off a sale — but then the problem of finding a replacement for him becomes the new problem.

But, in cases where the manager and a superstar player collide, it’s usually the manager that’s the one that is shown the door. Especially with the way that the Special One has failed to deliver a title to Manchester.

So, don’t expect all of the attention and talk about Mourinho to die down anytime soon.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang nabs our honours this week with two goals and an assist in the North London derby — more on the game later.

While his first was from the penalty spot, his second was a beauty, started off by a brilliant long-distance through ball from Hector Bellerin. Auba pounded home Aaron Ramsey’s flick from outside the box, leaving Hugo Lloris with no hope.

Aubameyang also took the lead in the Golden Boot race, putting his season total up to 10 goals, two up on Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

The fixtures are coming fast and furious, starting this week. We get our first round of midweek games for every team, so don’t forget to set your fantasy lineups … Mark Hughes made a bit of ignominious history on Monday after getting sacked by Southampton. Hughes is the first manager in Premier League history to be fired from two clubs in the same calendar year after getting canned by Stoke City in January … United has seemingly dipped in stature enough that drawing with it is enough to cost you a job … Chicarito got a rare start and didn’t disappoint, bagging a brace to end Newcastle’s three-game winning streak … OK, just what the hell was the goal to win the Merseyside derby? Jordan Pickford completely blew that one. If he hadn’t tried to palm the ball over the ball — it was seemingly already going out — Everton would have grabbed the point … We love the emotion that Jurgen Klopp shows, but maybe don’t run all the way out on the pitch after your team scores? Seemed a bit much … Spurs have taken the lead in a race we’re sure they don’t want to win: Tottenham has now allowed the most goals in Premier League history. Tottenham took the lead from Everton, sitting at 1,282 goals conceded to the Toffees’ 1,281. We expect Everton to retake the lead shortly, though … Manchester City didn’t even need Aguero to beat Bournemouth. But when you have Sterling and Leroy Sane in their current form, it’s not like the Citizens really need to risk Kun’s health when it’s reportedly just a small knock he’s dealing with … If you care about the silly Nations League, which is the pseudo-tournament that is staged instead of international friendlies these days, UEFA had its draw for the semifinals on Monday. Portugal will play Switzerland and Netherlands faces England next summer. Can you feel the excitement?

THE LAST WORD

I think we can safely say that the North London derby is the best rivalry in the Premier League these days.

The Manchester derby? City and United aren’t even close when comparing talent or position in the standings.

The same can be said for the Merseyside derby — and also that game was dreadful to watch.

The Tyneside derby? That won’t be taking place in the Premier League for at least two years after Sunderland’s fall.

Arsenal-Chelsea was quite good, but it doesn’t measure up to the North London rivals.

Yes, Tottenham-Arsenal had everything you could want from a game: A high scoreline with some nice goals, some heated arguments, a controversial penalty call and a red card.

After Arsenal went up early, Spurs came right back, scoring twice in a three-minute span to grab the lead.

While it certainly looked like Son Heung-min embellished to get the penalty in the 33rd minute, you can’t deny that it was a poor decision made by Rob Holding to go to the ground in defence. There was always a far greater chance that the he was going to get whistled instead of getting the ball.

But after the break, it was all Gunners. Bringing on Alexandre Lacazette and Aaron Ramsey was an inspired move by Unai Emery.

Spurs had no answer for the move and were notably worse off, perhaps best summed up by this stat: Dele Alli completed just six passes in the second half and four came from kickoffs.

And, to rub it in even further, Arsenal jumped Spurs in the table to stand fourth on goal differential.

For this week, at least, it seems that the Gunners are the kings of London.